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Aquatic squatters in Multnomah CountyShanks, a deputy with the Multnomah County river patrol, details his agency's recent efforts to address the live-in boaters who have dropped anchor in the area's public waterways.

As Laura Scott strolled along a dock on the Willamette River last Thursday near her downtown Portland waterfront condo, she peered out at a dilapidated yellow sailboat that had been anchored there for weeks.

A blue tarp concealed a stinking mound of trash piled in the boat’s hull, and Scott worried the boat might sink and pollute the water.

The State Marine Board will pay between $5,000 and $10,000 to retrieve the vessel from its resting place just south of the Hawthorne Bridge, said Rachel Graham, an operations and policy analyst with the marine board.

Sheriff’s officials say sunken boats have become common in the Willamette, a symptom of the unabated presence of “aquatic squatters” who live on vessels in Multnomah County’s public waterways.

In January 2013, the State Land Board enacted a rule aimed at cutting down on the unmoored boats by regulating where and when their operators can drop anchor. But more than 18 months later, the squatters’ ranks haven’t thinned.

Travis Gullberg doesn’t expect them to anytime soon.

“People thought the rule was going to be the answer to everybody’s problem,” said Gullberg, a lieutenant with the county river patrol. “As as we know now, that’s not the case.”

Enforcement fails

Aquatic squatters are a relatively new issue in the Portland area, although they’ve caused problems in the Florida Keys for years. Five years ago, only one boater lived full-time on Multnomah County’s waterways, according to the sheriff’s office. Now, the number is closer to 40 and growing by word of mouth among the area’s homeless and nearly homeless.

Riverfront property owners are not pleased with the trend.

“They just treat the river like a trash can,” said Scott, who lives in the RiverPlace development.

Residents say crime has spiked in their neighborhoods since the squatters started dropping anchor nearby. They also complain that boat owners dump trash and raw sewage into the river. And they argue the ramshackle boats pose a safety hazard. Marlon Bump, the harbormaster at Riverplace Marina, says his customers have reported thefts of fuel, kayaks and other items since a group of boaters began tying their vessels to a nearby public dock.

The state rule, meant to deter the boaters, mandates that they can only spend 30 days in one spot in a public waterway. Afterward, they must move at least five miles away, and come no closer for a full year. Breaking the rule could result in fines of up to $1,000 a day.

The State Land Board has yet to cite anyone for breaking the rule in Multnomah County. Officials say a fine would do little to deter the boaters, most of whom couldn’t afford to pay. The typical aquatic squatter is destitute, using the river as an alternative to homelessness.

“It’s the only way I can live,” said Bob Davis, who has lived for four years on a boat now anchored near the Burlington Northern Railroad Bridge in North Portland.

So those in charge of addressing the concerns about aquatic squatters – local law enforcement along with the state marine and land boards -- are taking a different approach. They’ve begun treating the problem as a housing issue.

A new approach

Some of their solutions are simple. For instance, river patrol officers have begun bringing social service workers out on the water with them to help boaters get into permanent housing.

The State Marine Board has also offered to fund an additional waste pumpout station on the Willamette River, in hopes that easier access to a waste disposal facility to will discourage boaters from emptying their toilets into the river.

“If these boaters had another place to pump out, hopefully they would do that instead of dumping untreated sewage into the river,” Graham said.

The county river patrol plans to launch a derelict boat turn-in program aimed at getting hazardous boats off the water before they sink, creating a hefty cleanup bill for taxpayers.

Todd Shanks, a deputy with the river patrol, said it would cost hundreds per boat to run the turn-in program.

Other, more complex solutions are under discussion, too. Shanks envisions an aquatic version of subsidized housing – a marina where the boaters can access electricity, water and toilets while they search for permanent housing.

Scott, the condo owner, and Bump, the harbormaster, like that idea. But finding money to run such a program, Shanks admits, could prove difficult.

“We don’t know what’s going to take root and what’s not,” he said. “We’ve been dealing with homelessness on land for a long time. You’re not going to solve it on water overnight.”